Endgame: Part I
by The I-Man
Summary: A boy in a mental institution slowly begins to realize that the end of the world might be sooner than he thinks. (Updated almost every week!) - Please R&R if you want to read the next chapter!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1:  
  
The air was hot today, hotter than normal. Well, it was August, it's supposed to be hot, right? My parents and I walked slowly up to what my parents called "The Hospital." I guess they didn't want me to know what it really was, even though I already knew. We were walking into a funny farm, a mental institution, if you will. I already knew why they were taking me here, I just didn't know how soon.   
Today is the interview. Some rating system to tell my parents how crazy I am, or something like that.  
We walked through the rotating doors, and stepped onto a checkerboard tiled floor. We walked up to the receptionist as she was watching something on a mini television. She pulled her earphones out of her ears. "This is Jack, right? Jack Murdoch?" That's my name, don't wear it out.  
"Yes, we have an appointmentment with Mr. Arrowitz." My mom replied.  
"Right this way." The receptionist led us through another set of doors, then onto an elevator. We were going to the third floor, which was odd, because the place didn't look that big on the outside.   
When we got to Mr. Arrowitz's office, it looked exactly like the principal's office at my high school. There, in front of the office, another receptionist was scribbling down notes on a legal pad. She looked up at us. "Are you the Murdochs?"  
"Yes."   
"You can sit down here, it might be a while." Oh great!, I thought to myself.  
We waited for what seemed like hours. I read all of an old Time magazine and part of People. How trilling...But finally the big door opened, and a man stood in its place.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Murdoch?" My parents nodded their heads.   
"Please come with me, and leave your son behind." Oh crap!, I thought. Now I had to wait even longer while this guy tells my parents if I'm crazy or not! I sat back down and picked up an Entertainment Weekly.  
"So...how old are you?" The receptionist asked. For some reason I hated people that talk to you that you don't know.   
"Sixteen." I told her.  
"Really? That's interesting..."  
But I knew it wasn't interesting from the way she was slowly wrapping her hair around her fingers. Suddenly, she got up, and walked into another room. This was my perfect chance to hear what was going on in that room. I got up and held my ear to the doorway.   
"...has been showing signs of ADD, but we don't think he actually has it." It was Mr. Arrowitz talking. Do I have ADD? I asked myself. I can't have it, if I did, I would surely know it, right? I continued listening.   
"How long do you think he will have to spend here?" My dad questioned.   
"Oh, I'd say only about, well, probably a minimum of six months." I slowly backed my ear away from the door. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard...  
"Jack..." JEEZ! I wheeled around. Someone had just whispered my name. At first I thought it was the receptionist, but she was nowhere to be found. I looked toward a janitor's closet in which the door was only about an inch open. I slowly walked toward it. I reached for the doorknob and yanked it open. The closet was still too dark to see anything, so I felt around for a lightswitch. I found one and flipped it upward.  
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw him. He was curled up in the corner, crying. His hair was bleach white. He was wearing all black, and was looking to the floor. His head turned up to look at me. His eyes were the deepest blue I'd ever seen. He didn't say anything, he just stared. Finally I asked "Who are you...?"  
He just looked at me for a little bit, then replied "The end of the world." 


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2:  
  
I looked at the man strangely. After what he had said, he only stared. Jack. Tears streamed down his face. His blye eyes were covered in tears. JACK. I felt a strange sensation in my stomach, as if somebody had just punched me there, but lighter..."Jack!" I turned around. The receptionist stood there, staring at me.  
"Are you okay?" She asked.  
"I'm fine."  
"Is there something you see in the closet?"  
I moved to the side, letting her see the weird man sitting there and crying.  
"Oh no, not again!" She yelled. She ran into the closet and grabbed the man's arms. She helped him up and took him outside.  
"This is the janitor, Earl. Every once in a while he says he has visions of "the end of the world" or something like that. But a few minutes later he's usually fine. Wait here while I take him to a nurse." She helped Earl, only taking very small steps out of the room. He turned and looked back at me.  
"Remember what I said..." He said softly. The receptionist turned back at me.  
"Just ignore him, he always says that." They left the room as I was left to sit and wait for my parents. I had nearly forgotten the hot water I was in, and even that I was in a freakin' mental institution! I sat back down and began twiddling my thumbs.  
A few minutes later my parents and Dr. Arrowitz emerged from his office. "Lets go Jack, we have something very important to talk about when we get home." Oh no...  
  
***  
  
The drive home was one of the longest drives ever. I thought about what I had done to get into this crazy situation. I couldn't focus in summer school, I picked fights with other people, and I didn't care about anything. Unfortunatly right before my parents had taken me to the mental institution I had seen the light, so I was much better now, but I just couldn't convince my parents. It was almost like they were mad at me.  
When we got home we talked about my behavior. The whole conversation was about my behavior over the past few months. I even broke a window with a baseball bat, but for some reason I don't recall doing that. The conversation ended very badly.  
"Jack, because of your behavior, we've decided that you need some time out time, so we're going to take you back to The Hospital." I sighed. Frankly, I just didn't care. I was so mad at my parents for not realizing that I had changed by then that I actually wanted to go to that hospital. Strangely enough, I did.  
I had a lot to think about when I went to bed that night. I thought about how my own parents had betrayed me, and how I did all those nasty things they had mentioned. A sense of anger, fear, and aphrehension inside me that night made me lose sleep. A lot of it, to. I probably only went to sleep for about fifteen minutes before I woke up again, feeling the exact same things.  
  
***  
  
During those fifteen minutes of sleep I had a dream. It was a weird dream, and all I remember was bright lights and the sounds of explosions. Although nobody actually came out and said it, it was like the lights and sounds were trying to tell me something...something about the destruction of Babylon...What's Babylon? Rebuilding. Us. 


End file.
